


pillow feathers

by wearing_tearing



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bottom Bucky Barnes, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Naked Cuddling, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Protective Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 03:36:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6222073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearing_tearing/pseuds/wearing_tearing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Steve,” Bucky whispers, trying to tug at one of the blankets wrapped around him.</p><p>Steve snuffles and scowls in his sleep, bringing his legs up to his chest and effectively stopping Bucky from tugging anything. He also rubs his face against Bucky’s pillow, making a little soft sound in the back of his throat.</p><p>“Fuck, but you’re cute,” Bucky murmurs, lips twitching.</p>
            </blockquote>





	pillow feathers

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [枕芯的羽毛](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6236743) by [Pearlson613](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlson613/pseuds/Pearlson613)
  * Translation into Русский available: [Подушка с перьями](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7906570) by [Anna_Karenina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anna_Karenina/pseuds/Anna_Karenina), [WTFStarbucks2016](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WTFStarbucks2016/pseuds/WTFStarbucks2016)



> crossposted from [tumblr](http://hawkguyz.tumblr.com/post/140850836751/covered-in-feathers-o)! 
> 
> also i feel like it's important to note that steve and bucky are naked during the entire fic. just so you know.

Bucky frowns and blinks his eyes open, focusing on the darkness of the room around him, skin chilled and bared. He rubs his knuckles against his eyes, chasing the sleep away, trying to figure out what woke him.

The windows are open, the soft light of the full moon shining through. It paints the room with shadows as much as it brightens it. The curtains move as a cold breeze sweeps inside, giving Bucky the answer to his question.

He doesn’t like the cold. Never has and never will.

Bucky shivers again as the breeze touches his skin, lips turning down. It is not just the cold that is bothering him. He moves, his confusion deepening when he only feels the hard mattress under his head and not one of the soft pillows he always lays his head on.

“What the fuck,” Bucky mutters, peering over the edge of the mattress and checking the floor.

It’s not uncommon for him to kick or throw things — or Steve — off the bed, but only his clothes from last night are found in a pile by the nightstand. It’s not until he turns on his side to face Steve that he finds out what happened to both his pillow and blankets.

Right there by his side, with all the blankets wrapped around his legs and waist, is Steve. He’s clutching Bucky’s pillow to himself, nose buried in it, only his eyes and the top of his head peeking out from behind it. Bucky’s heart trips over itself at the sight, at how peaceful and young Steve looks when he’s sleeping, like he’s not carrying the entire world on his shoulders.

“Steve,” Bucky whispers, trying to tug at one of the blankets wrapped around him.

Steve snuffles and scowls in his sleep, bringing his legs up to his chest and effectively stopping Bucky from tugging anything. He also rubs his face against Bucky’s pillow, making a little soft sound in the back of his throat.

“Fuck, but you’re cute,” Bucky murmurs, lips twitching.

He tugs at another end of one of the blankets, slowly and gently, until he gets it almost free. But then Steve decides to roll around, this time on his stomach, and traps the blanket under him again. He also doesn’t let go of Bucky’s pillow, which is now under his chest.

Bucky narrows his eyes, assessing the situation. He knows he could go find some warm clothes and put them on and go back to bed, but naked cuddling is one of the things he loves most about being with Steve. It allows him to feel the beat of Steve’s heart under his palm, feel the rise and fall of Steve’s chest as he breathes, touch warm naked skin and hold Steve close. And Bucky’s spent a lot of time unable to do any of that, so he’s unwilling to give it up now that he can.

“Okay, let’s try it again.”

His third attempt at getting a blanket free for himself goes about as well as the first two, which means it doesn’t work at all. During his fourth try, only one corner is trapped under Steve’s hip before he rolls around again and gets it tangled between his legs, the fabric slipping from between Bucky’s hands. On his fifth attempt, Steve goes as far as uncurling one hand from around Bucky’s pillow so he can grab the blanket and pull it back.

“You’re a little shit even when you’re asleep, huh?”

Steve hums and, as if to prove Bucky’s point, opens his mouth, a little line of drool falling on Bucky’s pillow.

Bucky wrinkles his nose and decides to try getting his own pillow back this time. He grabs one end with his metal hand, carefully pulling it from under Steve. He barely gets it to move two inches before Steve is tightening his hold on it and bringing it closer to himself, untangling one of his legs from the blankets and hooking it around the pillow as well.

“You’re not gonna win, sweetheart,” Bucky whispers, gripping the pillow again. “If you wanna hug somethin’ to you while you’re sleepin’, that somethin’ will be me.”

Bucky doesn’t go for finesse this time. It’ll serve him right if Steve gets startle and wakes up, so Bucky just grabs the pillow and pulls it. Or he tries to, at least. What he isn’t expecting is for Steve to _really_ startle awake, but instead of letting go of the pillow like Bucky thought he would, Steve just pulls it _back_. With all of his strength.

And that’s when Bucky topples backwards and the sound of something ripping echoes through the room, right before Bucky falls off the bed and onto his naked ass on the floor.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Bucky groans, head hitting the hardwood floor as he goes down, half of his pillow in his hand. A second later Steve hits the lights, the bright yellow glow of it making Bucky momentarily blind.

“What the _hell_ , Bucky?”

Bucky grimaces and slowly opens his eyes, ignoring the sharp pain in his head as he looks up at Steve. He’s leaning over the edge of the bed, hair a mess and eyes wide, gripping the other half of Bucky’s pillow tight.

Bucky opens his mouth to answer, but sneezes when something tickles his nose. It takes him a few seconds to see the feathers slowly falling to the floor and on their bed, a few stuck to Steve’s hair and his broad shoulders. Bucky lifts his head and looks down at himself, only to promptly let his head fall to the ground again when all he can see are _feathers_. Just feathers, _everywhere_ , covering _everything_.

“Bucky, _what the fuck_?”

“Don’t you start with me,” Bucky snaps, throwing his ruined pillow on Steve’s head. Steve ducks, displacing a few feathers from his hair. “You’re the one who stole all the covers _and_ my pillow.”

“So you decided to rip it?” Steve asks, dumbfounded.

“I decided to _take it back_ ,” Bucky replies, wiping away a few feathers as he sits up on the floor. A few of the feathers tickle him in some very uncomfortable places, but he fights back a shudder and points a finger at Steve. “But _you_ had to be a selfish asshole and keep my pillow and blankets all to yourself.”

“I— What?” Steve blinks dumbly at him, and then glances down at all the feathers surrounding them.

“The blankets I get,” Bucky says, gesturing to where Steve kicked them to the end of the bed. “You used to do that back then, too. Would wrap yourself around my shirts and all the blankets we could get to keep yourself warm.” Bucky can’t help but smile a little at that, remembering the way Steve would then move closer to Bucky, tucking his head under Bucky’s chin, kissing his neck before falling asleep. But as another feather slides down his nose and makes him sneeze, whatever warm and fuzzy feelings he’s feeling towards Steve go away. “But my _pillow_? Really, Steve?”

Steve opens and closes his mouth a few times before he mumbles something too low for Bucky to catch, the tips of his ears turning red.

“What was that?” Bucky asks, narrowing his eyes when Steve ducks his head and his blush spreads down his neck and to his cheeks.

“I thought—,” Steve stops, shakes his head. “Nevermind. We can buy you a new pillow tomorrow and you can have mine for the night.”

Bucky looks at Steve, taking in his flushed cheeks, the tightness around his mouth, the way he keeps averting his gaze and not meeting Bucky’s eyes. Bucky gets up from the floor, shaking himself a little, scrunching up his nose when the feathers start to fall away. He makes his way over to the bed, sitting beside Steve when Steve rolls onto his back to his own side of the bed.

“What did you think?” Bucky asks quietly, bringing a hand up to Steve’s hair, fingers gently picking off the feathers stuck in it.

“Nothing, Buck.”

Bucky pokes Steve on the cheek. “Tell me.”

Steve turns his head and nips at Bucky’s fingers, making Bucky yelp. “We should go to bed.”

“We are in bed.” Bucky slides down so he’s lying beside Steve, going as far as throwing a leg over Steve’s hip to keep him from running away. “What did you think, huh?” Bucky leans in and nuzzles Steve’s cheek, pressing a sweet kiss to the corner of his mouth.

Steve side-eyes him. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?” Bucky just grins, slow and an answer on itself. Steve sighs, cheeks still pink. “It’s dumb.”

“Just like you, then.”

There’s a split second of silence before Steve is on him, quick fingers digging into Bucky’s sides, tickling him mercilessly and making him burst out laughing. Bucky doesn’t try too hard to squirm away, loving the weight of Steve’s naked body on top of his, pining him down.

“Are you gonna take that back?”

“Nnn— _no_ ,” Bucky gasps, tears gathering in his eyes, his stomach hurting from laughing so hard. “I’ll never surrender!”

“Oh?” Steve raises an eyebrow, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. “I think you will.”

Bucky has no time to react before Steve grabs his wrists, bringing his arms up and holding them over his head. They both know Bucky could break away if he wanted to, but all Bucky does is relax and try to catch his breath.

At least until Steve bends down and presses their lips together. Then Bucky is breathless for an entire different reason.

Steve’s kiss is warm and a little sleep-sour and slow, soft lips moving against Bucky’s own. It’s chaste at first and incredibly sweet, making butterflies flip in Bucky’s stomach as he opens his mouth and asks for more. Steve laughs against him, breath ghosting over Bucky’s parted lips, but obliges, licking his way into Bucky’s mouth and deepening the kiss.

Bucky doesn’t know how long they stay like that, just kissing. His body is interest as it always is whenever he finds himself under Steve, covered completely by him, held close and protected, _loved_. But it doesn’t mean Bucky wants to do anything about it, happy in just staying like this for now, kissing, like they have all the time in the world.

Steve seems to be on the same page, because soon his kisses change again, soften. He nuzzles his nose against Bucky’s, lips brushing together one final time, before he lets go of Bucky’s wrists and drops a kiss to Bucky’s chin and to his pulse point, pressing his face against the side of Bucky’s neck.

“It smells like you,” Steve mumbles, rubbing his nose against Bucky’s throat.

“What does?” Bucky asks, his metal hand sliding up and down Steve’s back, the other resting lightly on the back of Steve’s neck.

“Your pillow,” Steve explains, voice so low Bucky almost misses it.

Bucky blinks, a startled laugh falling from his lips as he looks down at Steve. “What?”

Steve doesn’t say anything, just pulls Bucky closer to him, as if he can hide under Bucky’s own skin. “I said it was dumb.”

“You stole my pillow because it smells like me?” Bucky tries to clarify, disbelief coloring his tone. “When I was _in bed with you_?”

Steve doesn’t answer for a few seconds, and despite not being able to see his face, Bucky can definitely see just how pink the back of Steve’s neck is. Bucky waits for it, already finding himself smiling. It doesn’t take long before Steve takes a deep breath, bracing himself when he says, “I didn’t think it was your pillow.”

Bucky can’t help himself. He bursts out laughing, his arms coming around Steve and keeping him from rolling away. “You thought my pillow was _me_ ,” Bucky says, pressing his smile to the top of Steve’s head, tightening his hold when Steve tries to wiggle away.

“‘S not funny,” Steve grumbles, pinching Bucky in the hip.

“Yes, it is,” Bucky says, delighted. “You were holding it so tight, like you’d never let go.”

Steve lifts his face up from Bucky’s neck, cheeks red and lips swollen. “Well, yeah,” he answers, simple as that, eyes shining.

“Oh,” Bucky breathes out, heart skipping a beat and warmth rushing through his body.

“‘S why I got kind of scared when you were trying to take it from me,” Steve admits, jaw clenching.

Bucky’s breath hitches, and all he can do is cup Steve’s face between his hands and bring him close for a kiss. “That’s not gonna happen, okay?”

“I know.” Steve kisses him back. “I’d kill anyone who tried.”

It’s said like a promise, and it says a lot about both of them and what they’ve been through that the thought doesn’t scare Bucky; it just makes him sad. “I know,” he says back to Steve, and then looks at his pillow and tries to lighten the mood. “Too bad my pillow was your first victim.”

“ _Bucky_ ,” Steve groans, resting their forehead together.

“He was a real pal,” Bucky sniffs, hands sliding down to Steve’s chest and coming to a stop at his hips. “He was a good place to lay my head to rest when I was tired, and an even better one to rest my ass whenever you wanted to fuck—”

“Shut _up_ ,” Steve says, exasperated, and then decides to take matter into his own hands.

And, well, Bucky can’t complain when that means Steve is kissing him again, but he does whine in protest when Steve stops to swipe a hand over the bed and send all the feathers floating to the floor. But then Steve is on him again, hands moving with intent, touching him in all the ways Bucky loves best. And Bucky doesn’t think he’s even capable of forming words when Steve opens him up and then pushes inside, slow and careful like he always his, his entire body pressed to Bucky’s as they get as close as they can possibly be.

But Bucky does find his voice when Steve starts moving, just long enough to gasp, “ _I love you_.”

“I love you too,” Steve answers in kind, eyes shining like he can’t quite believe they’re here, together, _alive_. He looks at Bucky like he’s precious, like he’s someone worth _loving_. “Always, Bucky.”

Bucky wraps himself around Steve as best as he can: arms around his shoulders and legs hooked around Steve’s waist, heels digging into the backs on Steve’s thighs. He holds onto the man he’s loved all of his life —  even when he didn’t know what love was, even when he didn’t know _himself_ — as they move together, hearts beating in tandem, and he understands what Steve means when he says he never wants to let go.

Steve swallows the little sounds of pleasure Bucky makes when he comes, his teeth at Bucky’s bottom lip when he follows soon after. They lay like that while they catch their breaths, Steve on top of him and inside of him, trading lazy and sloppy kisses, not caring about the mess they made of themselves and their bedroom.

Bucky snorts when Steve yawns into a kiss, thumb trailing lightly over his jaw. “You’re sleepy, huh?”

“You did kind of woke me up in the middle of the night.”

Bucky nips at Steve’s chin. “You stole my fuckin’ pillow and then _ripped it in half_.”

“That was you,” Steve unhelpfully points out. “I was just cuddling it.”

Bucky rolls his eyes. “After you _stole it from me_.”

“I’ll buy you a new one,” Steve promises, kissing the tip of Bucky’s nose.

“You better,” Bucky mutters, and then slaps Steve on the ass. “Now get off.”

Steve widens his eyes, big and bright and full of innocence. “I thought I just did.”

Bucky groans, rubbing a hand over his face. “ _Off_ , Rogers,” he says, and at Steve’s pout he adds, “and then you can come cuddle _me_.”

Steve smiles, shy and soft and just for Bucky. “Yeah, okay.”

They waste no time cleaning themselves up and then jumping back into bed, ignoring the feathers scattered around the floor. Bucky steals Steve’s pillow for himself, looking all kinds of smug when Steve scowls at him.

“What about me?”

Bucky pats his own chest and then opens his arms, a clear invitation. “I promise not to kick you in my sleep.”

“You’ve been doing that since I’ve known you,” Steve huffs. “I doubt you’ll stop now.”

Bucky smiles, tugging Steve down on top of him and then pulling the blankets over both of them. He tugs one of the edges under his side, away from Steve, just in case he decides to steal all the covers again.

“This okay?” Bucky asks, hand flat between Steve’s shoulder blades.

“Yeah,” Steve answers, snuggling closer and tucking his head under Bucky’s chin. “Night, Bucky.”

“Sweet dreams, sweetheart,” Bucky says, placing a kiss to Steve’s forehead. “Love you.”

He can feel Steve’s smile against his skin, and then the soft lips pressing a kiss to his neck as Steve says, right before he falls asleep, “Love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> [you know where to find me ~](http://hawkguyz.tumblr.com/)


End file.
